Snap member



8 9, 1969 E. MORRIS 3,461,514

SNAP MEMBER Filed April 19, 1967 U.S. Cl. 24-204 8 Claims ABSTRACT OFTHE DISCLOSURE Snap member is formed of one portion having at least onefemale element of resilient material formed with a hole of givendiameter and depth therein, and another portion having at least one maleelement provided with a pinlike extension comprising a shank portion ofsubstantially the same diameter and length as the corresponding diameterand depth of the hole formed in the female element and an enlarged headportion located at the free end of the shank portion. The pinlikeextension is insertable through the hole of the female element so thatthe shank portion thereof lies within the hole and the enlarged headportion thereof extends out of the hole. At least the portion having thefemale element is formed of plastic material which can have the samecolor as that of a web to which the portion is attachable. One of theportions can be located on a zipper slide and the other portion at theterminus of the zipper whereat the slide is located in the closedcondition of the zipper.

My invention relates to a snap member and more particularly to a snapmember of the type having a male and female portion.

It is an object of my invention to provide a snap member having a colormatching or contrasting with the color of web material such as parts ofa garment that are to be secured therewith.

It is also an object of my invention to provide a snap member that isrust proof.

It is yet another object of my invention to provide a snap membercomprising a female and a male portion respectively having a pluralityof female and male elements that is readily formed by an extrusionprocess.

It is another object of my invention to provide a snap member comprisingtwo portions having a single male and female element, respectively,formed readily by being sliced from extruded strips having a pluralityof the respective elements.

It is an additional object of my invention to provide a snap memberwhich will remain engaged when subjected both to compression andtension.

It is a further object of my invention to provide a snap member whosemale and female elements are engageable blindly i.e. by touch only,without actually being viewed.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, I provide in accordancewith my invention snap member comprising two portions, one of theportions having at least one female element of resilient material formedwith a hole of given diameter and depth therein, the other of theportions having at least one male element formed with a pinlikeextension comprising a shank portion of substantially the same diameterand length as the corresponding diameter and depth of the hole formed inthe female element and an enlarged head portion located at the free endof the shank portion. The pinlike extension is insertable through thehole of the female element so that the shank portion thereof lies withinthe hole and the enlarged head portion thereof extends out of the hole.

In accordance with further features of my invention, at least theportion having the female element is formed of plastic material, andwhen both portions are formed of plastic material, they can have thesame color as United States Patent webbing material to which they areattachable. The portions can also be formed of strips respectivelyhaving a plurality of male and female elements spaced along the lengththereof. The portions have means, located at an edge thereof distantfrom the respective male and female elements, for attach ng the portionsto respective webs.

In accordance with a further feature of my invention, I provide a snapmember wherein one of the portions is located on the slide of a zipperand the other of the portions is located at the terminus of the zipperwhereat the slide is located in closed condition of the zipper wherebythe male and female elements of the portions are engageable in theclosed condition of the zipper.

Those features which are considered as characteristic for the inventionare set forth in the appended claims.

Although the invention has been illustrated and described herein as snapmember, it is nevertheless not intended to be limited to the detailsshown, since various modifications and structural changes may be madetherein without departing from the spirit of the invention and withinthe scope and range of equivalence of the claims.

The construction and method of operation of the invention, however,together with additional objects and advantages thereof will be bestunderstood from the following description when read in connection withthe accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the snap member of my invention;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view partly in section of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view reduced in size of another embodiment ofthe snap member of FIG. 1 shown attached to a pair of webs;

FIG. 4 is a front view of yet another embodiment of the snap member ofFIG. 1 in combination with a zipper;

FIG. 5 and FIG. 6 are front views respectively of the two portions ofthe snap member of FIG. 1 having respective female and male elements;and

FIG. 7 is a modification of the embodiment of FIG. 4.

Referring now to the drawing and first particularly to FIGS. 1, 2, 5 and6 thereof, there is shown a snap member according to my inventionincluding one portion 10 provided with a female element 12 and anotherportion 14 provided with a male element 16. The female element 12 isformed with a main hole 18 (FIG. 5) of given diameter and depth and twosmaller holes 20 spaced therefrom and connected therewith by a slit 22.This construction adds to the resilience of the plastic material ofwhich at least the portion 10 is formed so as to permit expansion of thehole 18 of the female element 12 for a hereinafter-described purpose.The portion 10 is also provided at the end thereof distant from thefemale element 12 with an attaching element 24 formed with an elongatedslot 26. As shown for example in FIG. 4, the portion 10 is attached to aweb by suitable stitching 28 passing through the slot 26.

The other portion 14 is also provided with an attaching element 24corresponding to the attaching element 24 of the portion 10 and is alsoformed with an elongated slot 26 by means of which the portion 14 can bestitched to a web. The male element 16 of the other portion 14 iscranked from the attaching element 24' (FIG. 2) and has a pinlikeextension 28 extending therefrom. The pinlike extension 28 has a shankportion 30 of substantially the same diameter and length as the diameterand depth of the hole 18 in the female element 12 and an enlarged headportion 32 at the free end of the shank portion 30. A concave recess 34(FIG. 2) is formed in the female element 12 at one end of the hole 18and has a width greater than the diameter of the hole 18 and a depthsubstantially equal to the length of the enlarged head portion 32 of theextension 28.

As can be seen from FIGS. 1 and 2, the pinlike extension 28 of the maleelement 16 is inserted through the yielding hole 18 formed in theflexible female element 16 so that the shank portion 30 lies within thehole 18 and the enlarged head portion 32 lies within the recess 34. Inthe engaging condition of the portions and 14 (FIG. 2), the attachingelements 24 and 24', the female element 12 and the pinlike extension 28are all located in the same plane, and the portion of the male element16 from which the extension 28 protrudes lies in a plane parallel to theplane in which the attaching element 24', for example, lies.

In the embodiment of FIG. 3, the snap member consists of two striplikeportions 10' and 14', respectively, corresponding to the portions 10 and14 of FIGS. 1 and 2. However, portion 10' is provided with a pluralityof spaced female elements 12' extending along the length thereof, andportion 14' is similarly provided with a corresponding plurality of maleelements 16'. As shown in FIG. 3, the portions 10' and 14 are attachedby stitching through slots formed therein (not shown) with respectiveweb material 36 such as that of a dress or other garment or the like.

In the embodiment of FIG. 4, the one portion 10 having the femaleelement 12 is shown stitched to a fabric web 36 along the edge of whichone row of zipper teeth 38 is secured. Another row of zipper teeth 38 isalso secured to an adjacent fabric web 36. A zipper slide rides on therows of teeth 38 and is provided with unillustrated conventional meansfor causing the adjacent rows of teeth 38 to interlock. The zipper slide40 is provided with an extension in the form of a male element 16" whichis engageable with the female element 12 at the terminus of the zipperat which the slide 40 is located in the closed condition of the zipperie at the top of FIG. 4. The male element 16" has a construction similarto that of the male element 16 of the embodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2. It isof course within the scope of my invention to substitute the maleelement portion 14 for the female element portion 12 and to provide thezipper slide 40 with a female element instead of the male element 16".

The snap member of my invention can be made entirely of plastic materialhaving substantially the same color as that of the fabric web to whichit is attached. The colors of the snap member and the web can, ofcourse, also be complementary or contrasting.

The embodiment of the snap member of my invention as shown in FIG. 3 canbe made by an extrusion as well as a molding process in strips having aplurality of respective female and male elements. Snap members withsingle male and female elements can be simply formed by suitably slicingup strips such as those of the embodiment of FIG. 3.

In the modified embodiment of FIG. 7, the features which are similar tothose of FIG. 4 are identified by like reference numerals. In the closedcondition of the zipper as shown in FIG. 7, the female and male elementportions 10 and 14 of the snap member of FIG. 1, suitably attached bystitching to the webs connected by the zipper, are located adjacent aconventional zipper slide 40 and can be snapped together to provide anadded firm connection between the webs.

Iclaim:

1. Snap member comprising two portions, one of said portions having atleast one female element of resilient material formed with a first holeof given diameter and depth therein and a pair of additional holesdiametrically spaced on opposite sides of said first hole and conlengthas the corresponding diameter anddepth of said first hole formed in saidfemale element and an enlarged head portion located at the free end ofsaid shank portion, said pinlike extension being insertable through saidfirst hole of said female element so that the shank portion thereof liessubstantially completely within said first hole and said enlarged headportion thereof extends out of said first hole into a recess formed atan end of said holes and having a diameter greater than the spacingbetween said additional holes and a depth, corresponding to the lengthof said enlarged head portion.

2. Snap member according to claim 1 wherein at least the portion havingsaid female element is formed of plastic material.

3. Snap member according to claim 1 wherein said portions are of plasticmaterial attachable to edges of web material, said portions having thesame color as said web material.

4. Snap member according to claim 1 wherein said portions consist ofstrips of plastic material, one of said strips having a plurality offemale elements spaced along the length thereof and the other of saidstrips having a corresponding plurality of male elements spaced alongthe length thereof.

nected by respective elongated slits with said first hole,

the other of said portions having at least one male element formed witha pinlike extension comprising a shank portion of substantially the samediameter and 5. Snap member according to claim 1 wherein said portionshave means, located at an edge thereof distant from the respective maleand female elements, for attaching said portions to respective webs.

6. Snap member according to claim 5 wherein said attaching meanscomprises a slot formed in said portions for receiving a threadstitching said portions to the respective webs.

7. Snap member according to claim 1 wherein both of said portionscomprise an attaching element for attaching the respective portion to arespective web, said one portion additionally having a female elementcoplanar with the attaching element thereof, said other portionadditionally having a cranked portion located in a plane parallel tothat of its attaching element, said pinlike extension extending fromsaid cranked portion and being located in the plane of its respectiveattaching element, whereby, in the engaged condition of said snapmember, both respective attaching elements, said female element and saidpinlike extension are located in the same plane.

8. Snap member according to claim 1 wherein one of said portions islocated on the slide of a zipper and the other of said portions islocated at the terminus of the zipper whereat the slide is located inclosed condition of the zipper whereby the male and female elements ofsaid portions are engageable in the closed condition of the zipper.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,310,119 7/1919 Harper.1,811,684 6/1931 Cooper 2475 2,223,347 12/ 1940 Axthelm 24205 .112,397,801 4/ 1946 Mitchell. 3,152,376 10/1964 Boser 24216 3,255,5036/1966 Sozzi 24205.11

FOREIGN PATENTS 58,646 4/1913 Austria. 985,896 7/1951 France. 1,052,6571/ 1954 France. 1,057,213 3/1954 France.

BERNARD A. GELAK, Primary Examiner 24-2051 1, 217

US. Cl. X.R.

